Tag: nostalgia

Few weeks back while driving in Calicut,something pricked me when I passed the Sarovaram Bio Park.It is situated at the Mini Bypass Road — on the way to Arayadathu Palam from Eranjipalam Junction.Two decades back,the plot where the bio park stays now was an exhibition ground.Weekend plans were either to roam in the S.M.Street or to go for an exhibition.The latter occurred only once or twice in a year — during the Christmas week and during summer vacation.So the demand was higher.A lot of vendors,circus groups and performers camped for a week or ten days.There will be everything from safety pins to furniture. Some families came with big-shoppers and filled their bags full.In school,we pinched each other and howled “same pinch” upon seeing same colored fancy pens/pencils in the hands of classmates.School boys calculatedly spent 12-hours at the exhibition to meet their crush(es).School girls went with their parents in the hope that they might see their guy.Love birds used the opportunity well.Parents shopped as much as they could.

In Calicut,the first mall came into existence in 2007.Focus Mall.People rushed into it as if the world will end the next day.Some people even told that Focus Mall was a realistic version of Orkut. We met our long-lost classmates,forgotten teachers,purposely avoided relatives and nosy family friends.Some people went to Focus Mall daily.Some others traveled from other end of the city to visit the mall.Shopping from Focus Mall became a matter of pride.A lot of people shopped only from the mall despite the frustrating crowd and the unnecessary waiting in the queues.People of nearby districts and places made one-day trip to Calicut to visit the mall.Taking guests to the mall was a proud moment.We boasted to every Manu,Binu and Vinu that the biggest mall in Kerala is in Calicut.But,the initial rage disappeared like whiffs of smoke in the air.People were bored with seeing people whom they know every time they go to the mall.People became bored with the crowd.And the rage slowly died.When newer malls came,people stopped going to Focus Mall.Last time when I visited the Focus Mall,there were hardly any crowd despite being a Saturday evening.

I truly wish those exhibitions and fairs at the temples were back.I miss the fun in riding on the giant wheel,I miss eating cotton candy and I miss those waiting-days.Or are these the symptoms of growing old?No matter what,those days were indeed golden.

Like this:

People say that our love for Mother is/should be unconditional.But,I do have certain reasons to love my Mother more.The beauty of Kerala is only in my heart and somehow I like to love the place by sitting at somewhere else,which means I come to Kerala very rarely.When I am on vacation,the days are spent like a queen by sleeping whole day and watching movies at night.I somehow get attached to my bed that ,at times ,I don’t even leave my bed room.So during one of such lazy vacations,I decided to help my Mother in cleaning the house.We changed the drapes,cleaned the terrace and planted some new vegetable seeds.

“Do you want to see something special?”,my Mother asked me.I thought this is her yet another way of making me work.Twenty minutes back she had asked me whether I want to see some earthworms and made me dig the soil for a 100 meter stretch.Then five minutes back she had asked me whether I want to see her wedding saree and made me help her in folding her sarees.

“No,Amma“,I replied.

“One last thing for the day,then you can rest and I will make pazhampori for you“.I hate such situations.She knows that I will do anything to have pazhampori.”One last time,OK?“,I said.

I brought the ladder and climbed up to the attic.There was a big and dusty metal trunk.I glared at her for making me touch this dusty thing.We slowly placed it on the floor and I sneezed hard.She opened the trunk and I again sneezed.After sneezing for the third time,when I opened my eyes I saw a trunk full of memories.I saw a trunk full of things which took me back to my childhood.

The metal trunk had my old answer sheets,the diary in which I had written alphabets for the first time,my school ribbons which I had tied on my braids,the jewelry which I had made,my dance costumes,some of my favorite jewelleries,my friendship bands,my birthday gifts and cards,some stupid love letters which I had received,letters from my friends,my notebooks,my first diary,my slam book and many more.

That’s when I decided,one of the best gifts I can ever give to my kids is a trunk full of memories.When I was a kid or a teen,I never thought that one day I will see my notebooks and become emotional.Some birthday cards from my friends drowned my in a flood of memories.Suddenly I felt those things so close to my heart.

A note to the parents of my generation,don’t throw away things related to your kids because after few decades,those things will be more precious than Gold.

Like this:

Now this is what you do when the nostalgia bug bites you.This is a Slate and a slate pencil.I’m not sure how many have used this to learn to write when they were smaller than kids.I did try to search for a slate board with a wooden frame which is actually the authentic slate board but couldn’t get it.So revisit the memories of childhood.

I am not sure whether I have reached the age to feel nostalgic as I just touched the quarter century 🙂

Yesterday evening when I heard my manager’s daughter talking to him over the phone, my mind ran two decades back.

Those days, telephones were not common, so my brother and I were very proud having one at home. Daily before getting out from the office, Dad gives us a ring to know whether he needs to shop something. Most of the days, my list will contain comics (or any book) and fried groundnuts. But Dad never got bored with buying me comics and books. Actually he has a big role in making me a book-worm. 🙂

My brother and I used to fight for picking up the telephone when it rings. We had this usual prank of making fool of each other by dialing 161.

But today, if the phone rings, three of us would look at Mom without raising our bums from the couch.

At times drastic changes in life take away a lot of our favorite matters. Until I moved out of home, it was usual to take a slow and long evening walk with Dad on Sunday after the 4pm movie.Both of us would talk about almost everything under the Sun during the walk. Since it’s Sunday evening, roads are deserted. So we walk into infinity. He would talk about his job, our family, our culture, values of education, necessity of being financially independent and NEVER to feel inferior just because I am a girl. Very rarely he used to miss Sunday walks with me.

As both my parents had job for five days, Sunday was special for us. There were times when my brother and I used to feel that it is Sunday if parents were at home during weekdays 🙂

Last week when I took a couple of days vacation, I missed the summer holidays badly. Summer holidays was filled with fun and pile of story books to read. We played cricket day and night, watched TV without missing any of our favorite shows, turned our couch into a bed as we slept on it most of the nights, ate our favorite foods without any breaks, cycled until we got tired or until we reached any dead-end while finding out some new routes, waited for the exam results to get announced so that we can celebrate, made list of new goodies to buy for the next academic year and a lot more. I don’t know whether summers changed or not, but those days’ summers were not as hot as today’. Playing in the Sun for the day never made us irritated, but today going out without sun screen and sun glasses have made life terrible. (Or was it because those days we were not worried about looks and complexion? 😀 )

Once Mom, brother and I were out for shopping and an unexpected rain made us run holding just one umbrella which Mom carries in her hand bag. All in a sudden I shouted to my brother saying “Make sure Mom is not getting drenched. If she falls sick, then we will be in trouble”. Though I blurted the truth, Mom still makes fun of me. But what I told came truly from my heart. If any of us fall sick, little it did change in our living. But when Mom fall sick, then three of us go crazy doing the household chores 😉 ;)More than being crazy, we felt that our home is dead as we can’t walk behind her telling day’s stories or to make her run behind us for doing some stupid pranks or to have a fair mediator for our fights or put us in sleep by telling stories from her college English text books.

Those times will never come back as today all are busy in their own worlds. Life certainly changed for the good, but still those memories do make a difference at times.

PS : Perhaps, because of this yearning that I still read comics, I still make Dad buy me comics plus fried groundnuts when I am home and my brother and I still play pranks with Mom even though she shouts at us “Grow Up!!!”

Yesterday was such a beautiful day.In the morning, I opened my eyes and looked out of the window.It was still raining.I felt like sleeping for some more time.The sound of the rain water dropping on the parapet was noisy but sleep was holding me back from getting up from the bed.I wrapped myself fully in my favorite thick black quilt.

It was 9 am when I woke up from sleep and it was still raining.I dressed like Ceaser using the blanket and got out of the bed.I could hear my parents discussing about something in the newspaper.I looked for my brother and saw him in sound sleep.So I lay next to him and sneaked into his quilt.For some minutes I watched the bedroom curtains dancing in the cold wind but they made me sleep again.

My brother and I woke up at 10 am cursing the one who invented/discovered breakfast.The water is so cold that both of us threw weird looks to each other standing in front of the wash basin for brushing our teeth.We both were shivering in the pricking cold and went downstairs for breakfast.But the hot milk and “Idiyappam with stew” gave us the energy to beat the cold.

After breakfast to check out the newspaper we curled up in the couch.We wrapped up ourselves in the quilt showing only our faces and read the newspaper.Though mom has called out for bath,we have acknowledged it like snoozing the wake up alarms.

Bathing was the toughest job at anytime and during rainy season its like a torture.Though we take a shower in hot water,we were still lazy to take bath.The moment we dry ourselves,we will again get inside the quilt with our jigsaw puzzles or comics.

It is awesome to have an early lunch and then sit on the sofa next to the balcony.Sitting there we could see the overflowing river which is 500m away.We used to love the “voice” of the river.The rain made the trees greener and the climate more colder.Keeping two cushions of on both the ends of the sofa,we lay down facing each other discussing about latest cartoons and comics.

By the time,mom comes up to the balcony searching for us,we will be asleep.But we will be waking up in the bed,and you know how 🙂

Again,it’s hot milk but with salted and roasted cashews at 5pm.We went out for play as rain God was be kind enough to take rest for sometime.We were back from play by the time Tom & Jerry started on the TV.

Again a hot shower with our toys ate away another one hr.

Dinner was ready by the time we finished off one more cartoon after the shower.It started raining again by the time we got back to bed.We slept wrapped inside the quilt hugging our toys.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…

Again,today morning I woke up and looked out of the window to see that it was still raining.Sleep was holding me back to the bed but suddenly mom held me against the sleep.I woke me up completely.I looked out for my brother and he was still asleep.I felt jealous of him. x-(

Today my 4th std class is starting and I have to go to school.Since its rainy season,he doesn’t have play school.